Although there are a wide variety of compounds available on the market for the treatment of CNS disorders, discovery chemists are still searching for new compounds with better efficacy profiles and faster onsets of action. The anticonvulsant topiramate has a very unusual structure compared to most other anticonvulsants. It is a CNS-active small-molecule carbohydrate. The compound consists of a bis-O-isopropylidene-protected fructopyranose sulfamate.

Topiramate is a very rare example of a CNS-active carbohydrate. A small series of carbohydrates and sulfamates were previously made and tested for anticonvulsant activity. Some analogs exhibited moderate anticonvulsant activity, including compounds A and B:
However, in comparison to the analogs, topiramate exhibited greater anticonvulsant activity.
Cyclopropanes have been targeted by medicinal chemists in a biological context because of their metabolic stability. This ring architecture has been successfully exploited in a variety of biological compounds. Furthermore, compounds that are structurally similar to cyclopropanated carbohydrates, such as 7-(hydroxyimino)cyclopropa[b]chromen-1a-carboxylate (Compound C), are active agonists for the metabotropic glutamate receptors, which are currently being examined for the treatment of depression.
